Republican arm-twisting over Medicare bill may have crossed a legal line

If you’re easily disgusted by the legislative process, you probably won’t want to read about the Republicans’ behind-the-scenes wrangling on the recent vote on the GOP Medicare bill. It wasn’t pretty and the party leadership had to break just about every rule in the book to secure a victory. As Bob Novak reported in the […]

Krugman on voting machines and the biggest scandal that no one talks about

Many of the blogs I read (see blogroll to the left) have covered the controversy surrounding electronic voting machines for several months now. I’ve never had much to add to the subject, so I rarely mention it. That said, if you’re not familiar with the controversy, be sure to check out Paul Krugman’s column in […]

Howard Dean’s sealed-records flap

A popular governor with a reputation for arrogance decides he’s going to run for president. He says he’s proud of his accomplishments as governor, but is nevertheless concerned about how political opponents may use some of his gubernatorial decisions against him, not to mention reporters, with whom he has never really gotten along. So, the […]

How the new electoral vote map will make beating Bush harder next year

Without getting into the Florida recount debacle, Al Gore came up one state short of the presidency in 2000. When the votes were tallied, Bush had 271 electoral votes and Gore had 266. (Gore’s total was supposed to be 267, but a DC electoral cast a protest vote to bring attention to the fact that […]

Colorado Supreme Court strikes down re-redistricting scheme

The AP is reporting that the Colorado Supreme Court has struck down the state legislature’s re-redistricting scheme, saying the GOP-led legislature redrew the maps in violation of the state constitution. You may recall that Republicans in Colorado were doing something similar to the Texas GOP by unveiling re-redistricting efforts this year. While Texas’ problem is […]

Liberal radio network making strides

The New York Times reported today that Democratic investors who have been planning to create a national radio network with liberal programming are “close to buying radio stations in five major cities.” “The acquisitions would represent a major move toward making the network real,” the Times explained. “After its conception was announced in February, many […]

GOP may have won three of four this year, but there was a more important trend

I noticed this morning that the ultraconservative Washington Times was boasting that the GOP won three of this year’s four gubernatorial races, which the paper suggests puts the Republicans in a commanding position going into 2004. As a factual matter, the GOP did, of course, win three gubernatorial races — Kentucky, Mississippi, and the California […]

The latest Dem polls

Rick, over at the Wesley Clark blog, mentioned yesterday that the first statewide Dem poll of the year from Tennessee is out. The numbers are consistent with several other recent polls in the South — Clark looks strong, Dean doesn’t. Clark — 10.6% Lieberman — 10.6% Dean — 6.3% Edwards — 5.9% Gephardt — 5.7% […]

A trial with actual significance begins today in South Dakota

OK, let’s return from Thanksgiving break with a little rhetorical quiz. Which of the following legal cases is likely to receive the most attention? a) An entertainer (basketball player Kobe Bryant) is on trial for sexual assault b) Another entertainer (weirdo Michael Jackson) has been charged with sexual assault c) A guy no one’s ever […]